New Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach Liam Coen will now begin the task of filling out his coaching staff. And one name to watch for the offensive coordinator role is Chip Kelly.
According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Kelly is “considered a target” for the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator opening.
Jones also adds that the Jaguars aren’t the only team with interest in Kelly as their offensive coordinator but the Texans do as well. Jones’ sources would call Kelly the “logical successor” in Houston.
A wrinkle to watch for here when it comes to Kelly is that since the Jaguars have Coen, who has Jones noted, plans to call plays, Kelly’s role with the team would be as a non-play calling offensive coordinator. He’d also have to adapt to what Coen wants to implement versus running his own scheme.
With the Texans, however, head coach DeMeco Ryans is a defensive play-caller, so Kelly’s role with Houston would involve him calling the plays.
It’s still very early in this process so we don’t know where Kelly stands on all of that but the difference in the two roles is noteworthy.
Kelly has held several head coaching roles during his career. He was Oregon’s head coach from 2009-2012 and then made the jump to the NFL to coach the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013-2015 and then the San Francisco 49ers in 2016.
From 2018-2023 he was back at the college level coaching UCLA and this past season was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Ohio State.
On their way to the National Championship, the Buckeyes ranked ninth in scoring offense this past season and fourth in yards per play under Kelly.
Kelly has an 81-41 record as a head coach in college and is 28-35 in the NFL with one playoff appearance.
